Is Disney building neighborhoods?

Disney Launches New Business to Develop Residential Communities. As more and more fans look for new ways to make Disney a bigger part of their lives, The Walt Disney Company today announced plans to introduce Storyliving by Disney, vibrant new neighborhoods that are infused with the Company's special brand of magic.



Yes, Disney is actively expanding into the residential sector through a brand called Storyliving by Disney. These are not just vacation homes, but master-planned "High-Fidelity" residential communities intended for year-round living. The first of these, called Cotino, is currently under construction in Rancho Mirage, California—a location where Walt Disney himself once owned a home. A second community, Asteria, has been announced for the Pittsboro area of North Carolina. These neighborhoods are designed to provide the same level of storytelling, "High-Fidelity" guest service, and attention to detail found in Disney's theme parks and resorts. Residents can opt for a club membership that grants access to curated experiences, wellness programming, and entertainment led by Disney "Cast Members." While Disney previously developed the town of Celebration, Florida, in the 1990s (which it later divested), Storyliving represents a more direct involvement in community management and lifestyle branding. For those in 2026 seeking a "Disney-fied" lifestyle, these communities offer a way to live within the "Disney Bubble" while remaining connected to major urban hubs and professional opportunities.

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Disney is drawing on inspiration from its abundance of intellectual properties as it builds a planned neighborhood in Riverside County. The community, named Cotino, is located in Rancho Mirage, about 11 miles southeast of Palm Springs.

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Walt Disney World Affordable Housing: Planned Opening in 2026. In 2022, we first told you about our plans at Walt Disney World to contribute nearly 80 acres of our property to create a new affordable housing development for our community.

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Disney is working to build a residential community in Rancho Mirage so fans can come home to Disney magic every day. In an interview for "LA Times Today," reporter Jaimie Ding told host Lisa McRee what's in store in the new Storyliving community.

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In it's role as master developer, DMB is collaborating with Disney on Cotino™, a Storyliving by Disney™ community in the heart of the Greater Palm Springs, an area that once felt the footsteps of Walt Disney himself. The brilliant mountain-ringed valley was once a rejuvenating retreat for Walt and Lillian Disney.

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Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort is a residential community within the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and is owned and operated by a newly formed Disney subsidiary, Golden Oak Realty within Disney Signature Experiences.

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Rancho Mirage, California, a city in the Coachella Valley not far from Palm Springs, will be the site of Disney's first “Storyliving” community, the company said in a press release.

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The Town of Celebration, Florida is a community founded by the Walt Disney Company in 1996. Today, however, all properties in the community are privately owned. It is in Osceola County west of the City of Kissimmee and about 20 miles southwest of downtown Orlando.

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Disney didn't respond to a request for comment on the average pricing of the homes or on how many it ended up building in the community, but houses reportedly start at $2 million and go up to almost $8 million, according to Florida real estate agents.

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Did you know you can live in Walt Disney World? No, not in one of its four theme parks, but in the Golden Oak neighborhood on Disney property. The luxury community is aimed at the Mouse House's most devoted fans, folks who buy second or third homes here just to be close to the magic.

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Disney to Build 80 Acres of Affordable Housing a 'Few Miles' From Magic Kingdom. When completed, the development will contain about 1,400 housing units.

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However, Disney World actually covers over 25,000 acres, which is around 43 square miles. If you need some context, that is the same size as the entire city of San Francisco! Big enough to have its own zip code, this enormous resort attracts over 50 million visitors each year.

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Tokyo Disneyland and its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea, are the only Disney parks in the world not owned or operated by The Walt Disney Company in any capacity.

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And if you've ever fantasized about actually living at Disney World — well, you can! There's actually a neighborhood on property called Golden Oak, and residents here get lots of amazing Disney perks.

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Promoted Stories. The move comes after the company failed to agree on new deals with pay-TV platforms Sky and Virgin. A spokesperson said that they 'remain committed to our kids channels business' with plans to 'execute distribution agreements for Disney channels in many markets where Disney+ is also available'.

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Exciting plans have been unveiled for a Doric Disnaeland to be built in the North East of Scotland, less than 10 miles from the city of Aberdeen. Opening on April 1st 2024, it will be the biggest theme park in Scotland, and because it is based in North East Scotland, will be heavily influenced by Doric culture.

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